Wow, thanks for the detailed feedback, it was really cool to hear your thoughts based on what you've seen. Fortunately, the design choices we're making, I think, line up nicely with the points you've emphasized. The open spaces are much more forgiving and allow for large fluctuations between high and low precision gameplay. On a more global scale the flow would generally be: flying to a structure (low precision) > understanding/entering structure(medium precision) > navigating/solving structure interior (high precision) > exit structure into air (low precision) > loop. We're taking a fair amount of inspiration from WindWaker/Shadow of the Colossus here in that both games have moments where players can reflect and observe as they move from point A to B. Additionally, because it's all player directed (the whole "if you can see it, you can go to it" thing), the oscillating gameplay intensity feels really nice. I think it breaks things up well anyway haha.
So camera and controls are things that our programmer is trying to be very conscious of. He's iterated on them more times that I can remember at this point, and each time they get/feel better. There's always more playtesting to be done, but I'm pretty confident in our controls and camera setup. I'll see if I can get a gif or video up showing off some of their more nuanced elements. Oh and we're supporting:
- Mouse and Keyboard
- xinput controller (recommended)
- Steam controller
- flightstick
We're definitely trying to craft a more relaxed experience than most dogfighters/racers/etc. I'm glad you like what you've seen so far ^_^